The New World
by MuggleBorn92
Summary: Having been cryogenically frozen to be saved from a deadly illness, Lara Dawson wakes up in a new century, 346 years in the future on a starship called the Enterprise. Struggling between exploring her new life and remembering her old, she must find herself again, live again in a world completely foreign to her…
1. Awakening

**The New World**

I do not own Star Trek.

 **Chapter 1:** **Awakening**

She stared ahead.

Didn't really look at anything particular.

Her eyes were still red but she wasn't crying anymore.

She just sat there saying nothing.

Everything she knew…was gone…

* * *

At first she had been confused not knowing where she was. The strange architecture and the funny uniforms of the doctors and nurses; was she inside some sort of military hospital? Then her memories came back in an instant: visiting her cousin at the east coast, the embolism, the diagnosis of the doctors that she didn't had much time left. And then talking with her parents, her family about these newly constructed cryonics satellites…her parents! They had actually done it!

Lara had looked around the room she found herself in. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with her. Furthermore she could actually hear clearly without hearing aids! Then a woman had approached Lara and introduced herself as Beverly Crusher. Lara had asked where she was, whether she was still in New York, the hospital was the last thing she could remember.

But no!

Said hospital was long since history. And so apparently was Lara's old life.

"The earth year is 2364. You're on board of the _USS Enterprise_ , a spaceship," the chief medical officer had explained to her.

"Twenty – what? I-I…" Lara had stammered.

346 years had passed!

Doctor Crusher then had introduced another woman to her, Deanna Troi, who apparently was some kind of "counselor". What did Lara need a counselor for? Or was this the new term for psychiatrist?

Whatever, Lara, dressed in a blue coverall, had followed the kind and caring woman called Deanna out of sickbay and through a corridor into an elevator which could be controlled by voice command.

Still slightly confused and weary, Lara's brain didn't seem quite awake yet although she didn't feel any pain or anything. But it all went _so_ quick! Although the doctor had let Lara sit for a while on the bed until she felt ready, she still felt as though she had been woken up at three in the morning. When hadn't expected for it to be so sudden. But she didn't want to stay in sickbay either; she needed something comfortable like a room, something…well…close to normal to settle down.

Deanna led her to her quarters which were very big! Had Lara not known that it was her quarters, she would have guessed that it was intended for some high dignitaries, ambassadors or the like. It had three rooms, one sort of living-room-like one with a table, a sofa, chairs, shelves and windows, the other two were a bedroom also with a window and a bathroom without any windows. Everything seemed modern beyond modern. And the windows showed what was apparently outer space; a true luxury hotel by her century's standards!

"If you need any sort of information or contact a member of the crew," Deanna explained, "you can use one of the surfaces here." She moved her hand over a piece of the wall and an enormous screen seemed to dissolve out of it as if appearing magically. The same could be said of the desk and the wall in the bedroom and even the bathroom!

"You can take this info with you anywhere as well," said Deanna as she gave Lara something that looked like a filmy, razor-thin rectangular glass shard. Then she moved to a square black hole in the wall inside which something shone in a bright blue light. It was unlike any kind of technology Lara had seen in her life.

"This is a replicator. You can replicate anything you like with it from clothing to food and drink."

"You mean you can just create those things out of nothing?" Lara asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We use raw matter as a basis," Deanna answered as if it was self-evident.

"Oh…sure! Yeah…raw matter…" Lara said sarcastically. She looked outside the windows: no planet, no moon, no blue globe anywhere!

"Where are we exactly? Why aren't we near earth? How did you foun – Oh my god, it's real!" she led out suddenly. She gulped, her mind fully awake now. Reality struck and it struck hard. It was gone, it was all gone! Her old life. Everyone and everything she new! When she had been on the brink of death, it hadn't occurred to her what it would be like if she actually woke up, if she lived, if she had to live. In this new world, this unknown, this undiscovered country! And she couldn't take it anymore! She tumbled…

* * *

Lara felt Deanna's hand on her shoulder stroking her. Her face buried in the woman's torso, Lara wept her entire life out! Wept until it seemed she could weep no longer, as if all the tears of her life had been wept away. She emerged again and stared out of the window, ahead, nowhere in particular. She gulped and hiccupped. For a while they both stood there and nobody spoke.

It was true.

She really had been cryogenically frozen. Her parents had really pulled it off. She remembered it was expensive but her mom and dad had assured her back then that money should be of no concern in this matter. She hadn't been ready yet, no one of her age could possibly be! And her parents had accepted her decision. Lara would survive! Their daughter would live.

But now…now she was here.

In a new world;

A new time!

Foreign to her;

Cut off from her former life. She couldn't even thank them!

Everything she knew, everything there had been…it had all vanished. Some new world was out there sauntering along though space. And she had to find herself again. Reborn to everything again; a big baby toddling across some new unexplored road, unsure of what she would find.

A hum came from the door.

"Come in," Deanna said in Lara's place.

Emerging out of her deep pond of thoughts, Lara slowly turned towards the doors which opened to reveal an older gentleman around 60 years of age with balding grey hair entering her quarters. He wore a red uniform that was as bland as the others she had seen. No decorations of any kind save pour pips at his collar. The man smiled and approached Lara holding out his hand. Smiling shyly, Lara took it.

"Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Federation Starship _Enterprise_ ," he introduced himself.

"Lara Elizabeth Dawson," she responded. "Thank you, Captain, for saving my life."

"How are you feeling, Miss Dawson?"

"I…" Lara stammered for a moment, "It's so overwhelming! I am fine, I've made it but…I just need to get used to all of this now."

"Do you like your accommodation?" Picard asked.

"Oh yeah, it's….brilliant. Cozy and…big. Luxurious…for a girl from the 21st century."

She looked at the captain. A question had formed in her head, something that, in all the commotion going on, she hadn't thought of.

"Where there other people in the cryonics satellite, sir? Has anyone else survived?"

"Actually there has. Ralph Offenhouse is his name, he just woke up."

"Will we stay here?" she asked. "What will happen to us now?"

"Well," Captain Picard said, "we find ourselves on a delicate mission. There is a situation we need to investigate. You see, Miss Dawson, our actual mission is the discovery of the unknown. We belong to a fleet of science vessels. Discovering a remnant satellite from Earth with living passengers in it was tempting and I would be honored to have an extended conversation with both you and Mr. Offenhouse within the next few days, I'm sure you would have some fascinating insights into the events of your time. But if you were to remain here, you wouldn't see our homeworld for years. I have therefore arranged for you to be brought back to Earth. In five days we'll be arriving at Starbase 81, a space station. You can come aboard the _USS Charleston_ there which is bound for Earth."

Lara nodded.

"There are a few performances in the next couple of days," Picard explained, "Our ship offers a variety of recreational activities. Tomorrow for instance there is a concert at Ten Forward, music from several centuries and epochs. It will give you the opportunity to meet other people; to settle in into this new time."

Lara nodded again.

"I was actually thinking about that. Thank you, captain."

* * *

Lara woke up a bit confused. She didn't have such a very comfortable bed! And why was the sky still dark at this hour?

Then it came back.

Sitting up with a start, Lara once again felt that emptiness about her. Then, with a determined look on her face, she got up and moved to the bathroom. She still had to get used to there being no switches anywhere for nearly everything was done via voice command. After having a wonderfully comfortable shower, she stepped out, still naked, towards the replicator. She had been so tired after everything that had happened yesterday and it had been very late after all. She pressed a finger on the wall and a screen appeared telling her that it was stardate 41987.3 and 09:12 a.m. She searched the screen (the only device that could be controlled through touch) for an earth calendar and found that it was December 27, 2364.

Lara turned to the replicator and, after having looked up a list with 21st century clothing for women, dressed in a black T-shirt with a yellow cardigan and jeans. Tying her long black hair into a ponytail, she was ready to start her day!

Since she still had some time before the concert started, she used this time to brush up on a little history. Half an hour later she stared open-mouthed at the screen. She had expected anything but this! She wondered if this Ralph Offenhouse had equally felt about this.

Moving through the corridors and elevators of the _Enterprise_ , Lara found that people were often taking an interested look at her and seemingly very strange choice of clothing. Apparently people didn't dress as flamboyant as she chose to. She also noted the many alien crew members wandering through the corridors going about their business. How many alien species and planets were there to visit? For a moment, Lara forgot all her burden and found herself planning a tour through the regions of the United Federation of Planets she had read about.

Arriving at Ten Forward, Lara saw that it was a very large room with comfortable chairs around several tables and a bar on the other end opposite the enormous windows.

Spotting an older gentleman in his sixties dressed in a 21st century-style business suit, she approached him.

"Mr. Offenhouse?" she asked. The man looked up.

"Good morning, sir," Lara said holding out her hand. "I'm Lara Dawson, one of the, uhm, passengers of the _SS Birdseye_ , the cryonics satellite."

"Ah, good to know that you made it," Mr. Offenhouse said. He gestured to the chair opposite of him. "Please, sit down."

"Thanks"

As Lara sat down, a waiter approached their table.

"Can I get you something?"

"Have you eaten yet?" Lara asked Mr. Offenhouse.

"No, not yet, great idea," he said and turned to the waiter. "I'd like an omelet and coffee please."

Lara thought for a moment. "I would like Miso soup, Nattō, salmon sashimi, a salt plum, an egg, rice and green tea please."

The waiter nodded and left leaving Mr. Offenhouse watching Lara with interest.

"Japanese breakfast," she explained. "Very healthy."

The waiter was already back serving their breakfast. Lara picked up her chopsticks and began to help herself to some Nattō while Mr. Offenhouse pocked somewhat unenthusiastically in his omelet.

"So how does it feel?" he asked her.

Lara paused, looked down biting her lips then gazed up to Mr. Offenhouse again.

"It's not that easy…I was so sure back then. But now…I kinda wish I hadn't done it…"

He nodded.

"Must be hard when you still had people around that you loved back then."

He stared at his plate and finally began to properly eat. Lara sharply looked at him for a second and resumed to eat.

"You seem disappointed of the situation we're finding ourselves in," she said after a while.

"How can I not be disappointed?" Mr. Offenhouse said grimly. "Did you know that there's no money anymore? That means my whole account, all of my money is gone and so is my office. In fact, I've read that Wall Street and the Stock Exchange have been turned into a museum! How am I to live now? I'm a stock broker!"

"Well consider yourself lucky," Lara shot back, "we seem to have died right before everything went south. A global economic depression, the creation of Sanctuary Districts to keep the unwanted from the streets in the 2020s and the outbreak of World War III in 2026 that lasted 27 years and reduced almost every country to ruins including the US."

"I've read about it," Mr. Offenhouse nodded, "600 million people dead…unbelievable how we could rise again from the ashes. With the help of an alien people apparently."

Once again none of them spoke for a while until Mr. Offenhouse had finished his omelet and was sipping his coffee while Lara ate her Miso soup.

"Do you have any plans on what you're gonna do once you're back on Earth?" Offenhouse asked. Lara shook her head.

"Haven't thought that far ahead yet. I first need to find out more about this time…the society we'll now live in. Did you notice that there seems to be a lot of families on this ship?"

"Yes, I have. And there are quite a few children here. But no one seems to supervise them or teach them? I was looking if there was a daycare or something but the computer defined daycare as something from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. How do you keep those kids in line?"

"Perhaps they don't need to," Lara pondered. "I mean, think about it: a world without money, without crime, war, famine and disease…and with far superior technology! No need to teach these kids to be careful in town, watch where they go and stuff. And obviously they seem to know where they're not allowed to go. So why patronize them? We're 300 years into the future, Mr. Offenhouse, in a time where different civilizations have come together! Surely many cultural phenomena are gonna be foreign to us."

At this moment, Ten Forward began to fill with more people as the musicians took their place on the podium and the concert began. First classical music was being played: _Eine kleine Nachtmusik_ by Mozart and _The Four Seasons_ by Vivaldi, the _1812 Overture_ by Tchaikovsky. Lara noticed that an android was among the musicians, according to the information about the ship's crew, he was the first android with a position in Starfleet: Lieutenant Commander Data.

Then Jazz followed. Many people got up and started dancing. One of the nurses who had been present when Lara awoke, Alyssa Ogawa, asked her for a dance. At 21, she was only five years older than Lara. They quickly got to know each other over the music that followed, Blues and Country was followed by Rock 'n' Roll with songs by Elvis Presley, the Beatles and more. After that, music from the early 21st century followed with songs by Janelle Monáe, Rihanna or Beyoncé. What came next was music that Lara hadn't experienced anymore as they came after she had died; the postwar music after 2054 which was defined by sorrow, poverty and the question of how to move on; the New Age music after first contact with the Vulcans which was hopeful again and full of spirit. And then lastly there was the music of the time of the Federation which was founded in 2161. Vulcan, Andorian, Tellarite, Denobulan, Betazoidian music among others. Songs in various alien languages.

Lara had lots of fun as she danced listened and talked with her newly found friend. Exhausted but very happy she went to bed. Her dreams switched from dancing with Alyssa and talking with Mr. Offenhouse at Ten Forward to Lara standing in front of her parents and old friends screaming at them as they went to and fro in some fuzzy background of her hometown Portland and the distance between them became wider and wider. Then they intermixed with Lara being at Ten Forward watching family and friends dancing in some alien style while she was inside her satellite capsule watching them while nearly dying.

With a scream she rose from her bed panting as though she had run from the Northwest of Portland all the way to the border into the state of Washington. Touching the nearby wall, she noticed that it was 4 a.m. Lara sighed. Lying back, she proceeded to stare at the ceiling. Then she got up and made herself ready for the day. She checked the ship's database for historical information and eventually found what she was looking for: names.

Telling the computer all the names of her friends, Lara watched as the screen on the wall spilled out results, sometimes in connection with famous historical events or for having accomplished noteworthy things: Gary Ward from her year who took part in the Bell Riots of 2024 in Sanctuary District A in San Francisco after having landed there for being diagnosed with Asperger's; Philipp Jensen who became a famous judge who desperately tried to provide at least something resembling a fair justice system after it had begun to erode starting in early 2019 and became utterly meaningless by 2032; Jessica Ortega who joined the terrorist group of Colonel Phillip Green. With a horrified expression, Lara shut off the screen.

How she wished to be on a planet, any planet, and see the sunrise! Just see a new day shining through the windows! But alas, there was only deep space. Total darkness only pierced by tiny white dots of distant stars that surely these people had visited at some point or were about to. To put at least some kind of familiarity to her new surroundings again, Lara went to the replicator and selected a list of items that sort of reflected her old room back at Portland. She had noticed yesterday that there didn't seem to be any bins or wardrobes. You could actually not only materialize something with the replicator, you could also recycle it again. And above that, you could save your replicated choices and make a list which was exactly what Lara was doing. Once she would be back on Earth, Lara would decorate her new home in a similar way. An hour later, Lara sat on the sofa glancing around her quarters now filled with pillows with her favorite colors as well as books and clothing for the next couple of days. Clutching a book to her chest, Lara went out of her quarters making her way to Ten Forward. They had given her a small communication device called a combadge. As soon as she deemed it appropriate, Lara called the nurse she befriended yesterday, Alyssa Ogawa, and asked her whether she would want to join her for breakfast. Lara spent almost the entire morning at Ten Forward reading _Species of the Federation and Their Cultures_. It was well thought of to read the actual book and not some text on one of those glass PADDs you could take with you. Lara had always preferred books over e-books and the like. But then Lara wanted to try something different. Alyssa had told her about this technology that was said to be very immersive: the holodeck. It was said that would could upload entire landscapes in there and even take part in some interactive playthroughs of novel and film adaptations called holo-novels.

Standing outside of Holodeck 3, Lara went through the very extensive list of choices. It was only when she heard approaching steps that she turned around to find Captain Picard walking towards her. He smiled.

"I was just coming off duty and I wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine, thanks, Captain."

"I see you're trying out our holodecks. Do you need help with the procedures?"

Lara thought for a second.

"I'm not sure what to choose, there are so many things available here. Should I run one of those novels or merely walk though a landscape, perhaps with a horse?"

Captain Picard nodded.

"I'd know something that might be to your liking. Do you like detective stories, Miss Dawson?"

Lara beamed.

"I love reading Sherlock Holmes! They made a modern television series during my time. And then there was this other detective from San Francisco..."

"Dixon Hill," the captain said with a voice filled with a fan-like admiration. Lara glanced at him.

"That's right," Lara confirmed.

"May I invite you to a trip to 1942's San Francisco?" Captain Picard asked.

Lara smiled and nodded.

"As long as I'm not just sitting at the secretary's desk, sir."

Captain Picard smiled reassuringly and went to the screen in the wall and selected a two-people playthrough of _The Long Dark Tunnel_. Playing the role of Private Investigator Dixon Hill himself, he proposed Lara to play the detective's Secretary Madeline Lewis. The doors to the holodeck opened and Lara followed Captain Picard open-mouthed. They found themselves in a hallway of a building. Lara looking excitingly at the captain only to find that he had apparently changed his clothes to match that of a private detective of the 1940s. Glancing down her own body, Lara noticed that she too had different clothes, namely a green dress and a beige jacket as if she had just on the road outside. It felt so real! Picard opened a door with a sign that read: _312 – Dixon Hill, Private Investigator_. The two of them stepped into a reception room with a desk containing a telephone, a type writer and a large amount of paper files and notes. Lara went around the desk and sat down while Captain Picard went into the detective's office. Lara scattered through the notes hoping to find something interesting when she heard heavy steps and looked up. A heavy guy in a blue suit and black hat had approached her.

"I'm looking for Private Dix," he said in a growling voice.

"Uh, sure, one moment sir," Lara said standing up and went to the office.

"There's a gentleman for you, Mr. Hill," she said to Picard standing by the window. The radio was running.

"Thank you, Madeline," Picard said.

* * *

About an hour later, Captain Picard and Lara hurried along an empty street in a seemingly deserted part of San Francisco alongside a man called Robert McNary, a police detective and friend of Dixon Hill.

"Is this Japantwon?" Lara asked.

"It is," the captain answered, "this must be shortly after the deportation of the Japanese American population. And ideal hiding place for a gangster like Jimmy Cuzzo."

Lara came to love the holodeck. It was like one of those interactive video games she once had played with a friend, only that the player was actively participating in the story. Luckily, thanks to safety protocols, not everything was actually real like alcohol and cigarettes (as Lara had found out as both Dixon Hill and his secretary smoked) or knives and bullets. After the program had finished, both were walking out of the holodeck with sweat on their faces from all the running and excitement.

"Thank you, captain," Lara said as they stopped in front of the entrance.

"My pleasure," said Captain Picard, "I'm looking forward to dinner tomorrow with you and Mr. Offenhouse."

"'Till tomorrow then," Lara said.

* * *

Lara spent the afternoon wandering through the corridors of the _Enterprise_ which was so large that it could easily hold the population of a small town. There were many recreational facilities on board such as a theater, a gymnasium and an arboretum which was a huge space, almost like a park with all kinds of plant life, from Earth as well as from other planets. And every now and then, one could spot children playing in small groups, running about laughing. Lara spent quite a lot of time observing children. Indeed, as Mr. Offenhouse had said, no one seemed to supervise them or look after them. Elsewhere, in one of the many lounges, she found a couple of children reading PADDs. They learned by themselves at their leisure, a self-initiated, self-directed and needs-centered form of learning. No dull rote learning of facts and numbers. In fact, adults seemed to trust children as no parent would every do on 21st century Earth. From what Lara could gather – as she never talked with parents about this stuff – adults were viewing children, toddlers and even babies as having their own social drive. Once they could move around by themselves – be it crawling or walking – their parents let them explore the ship as freely as they wanted to. Mothers or fathers would still be near their toddlers but never held them off going somewhere. There were places that for sure no child would ever be seen like critical systems. But in corridors, lounges and other recreational facilities you could almost always spot at least one child. It was fascinating to watch. One could not even call it upbringing, more _upwatching_. Apart from that, children still seemed very close to their parents physically. Small children were almost always carried around by their parents and it was not uncommon to see older children breastfeeding in a lounge or another public place. Whereas in Lara's time, children were told to comply with their parents, in this time it seemed that parents naturally complied with their children and their needs and did not attempt to shape children and their personality and behavior to some "norm".

Lara did bring up the subject at dinner with Alyssa. When she told the young nurse of how children were mostly raised in her time, Alyssa seemed actually appalled by the very idea of that. In fact, Lara had found many things of her time to be viewed as downright uncivilized by inhabitants of the 24th century, perhaps in the same way as people from the 21st century viewed the live of the middle ages: some old, long gone barbaric times that they had luckily been grown out of.

* * *

The next day, Lara and Mr. Offenhouse were called to the pilot lounge in the shuttle bay on Deck 4 where a tall, handsome man was awaiting them.

"Commander William Riker," he introduced himself, "I just wanted to talk to you about the _SS Birdseye_." He pointed out of the window where one could glance down at the gigantic shuttle bay that looked like a vague mixture of an aircraft hanger and an airport. Goods were transported to and fro and at the far side, they could actually see a shuttle departing. But right before them under the window was the enormous satellite with its remaining cryopods laid around it.

"There was little information on the _Enterprise's_ database and the satellite's computer was damaged," the commander informed them. "There seemed to be room for twelve people in total and we've been able to restore most of the data that also list ten other passengers along with the two of you."

"And you're wondering if we knew about those people or actually met them?" Lara guessed.

"It would help us reconstruct the puzzle if you had any insight of the operation," Riker said.

"I think none of us knew each other except if some of the passengers were already engaged in some way," Mr. Offenhouse said. Riker nodded and looked to Lara who shook her head.

"I've only heard about this process before I was cryogenically frozen. I didn't even see the satellite until now." She looked at Riker. "Did you find out what happened to the others? Or why we were drifting so far out in the first place?"

Riker sighed. "There are signs of the satellite being taken and boarded, likely by a non-human crew, some hundred years before we extracted you. All the pods are empty except for yours which were the only two still functioning normally. Two were apparently broken open but something prevented the intruders from taking the occupants out. We've only found their skeletal remains. The most likely theory is that the intruders needed some intelligent life forms as a workforce. Either that or something even worse."

"But you have no way of finding out who it was?" Mr. Offenhouse inquired.

"The patterns of the intrusions including tools and weapons they might have used to board the satellite don't match any type of civilization we currently know of. Of course, there are still some uncharted spots within the border of the Federation that currently encompasses eight thousand light years and has over one hundred and fifty members.

He started to move to the door and Lara and Mr. Offenhouse followed.

"We collected the data on the passengers. Yours are here."

He handed each of them a small chip-like object.

"Information on you and the data that you requested such as certificates, private notes and so on."

Lara took her chip with a deep breath. She remembered well what she wanted to put on there. Back in her quarters she held the chip to one of the screens as instructed by Commander Riker and at once a list of files appeared. All her personal data: a biography, school certificates and private photos of family and friends. Lara gulped. Then she directed the screen to put on a slide show of the photos. She was relieved to see that no picture was missing. But while she had looked at each of them her stomach seemed to be continuously filled with stones and becoming heavier and heavier. There they were, frozen on a screen with no sound and no live coming out of them. Most of the time they were all posing and faking a smile for the camera anyway.

"Turn off the screen," Lara ordered the computer. The screen seemed to disappear leaving behind just the wall. Lara sighed. She went out and made her way straight to the elevator. Her destination was the holodeck. She needed distraction. And she found it a couple of moments later racing a horse through various Earth landscapes, from Central Europe with castles in the background to the frontier of the wild west to the mountains of what in her time was North Korea.

Back in her quarters, she then went to the replicator to look prepare herself for the dinner with Captain Picard.

* * *

Outside of the captain's quarters she found Offenhouse dressed in a 21st century tux. He looked at her sporting a fabulous dress.

"I see that you can't cotton up this ridiculous fashion either," he observed.

"Who says it's ridiculous? I simply have my taste. Who knows? Maybe I'll be wearing a 24th century garment tomorrow," Lara said. She reached to the panel on the side of the door and a chime sounded.

"Enter."

They went inside Captain Picard's quarters which were as big as three standard quarters at least. A table for three had been set and Picard was just getting the last dishes out of the replicator. It was a mixture of different human dishes from around the world. Lara noticed that the captain was wearing a dress uniform.

"Miss Dawson, Mr. Offenhouse, good evening," Picard welcomed them. "Please, have a seat."

He pulled back the chair intended for Lara. She took it and he pushed it to the table again as she was sitting down.

"May I offer both of you a glass of _Château Picard_? From my family's vineyard in La Barre."

He poured three glasses, first to Lara then to Mr. Offenhouse and at last to himself. He then raised his glass.

" _À votre santé!_ "

They all sipped from the red wine and Lara found it to taste quite good.

"Please, help yourselves," the captain then offered. While she took a bit of this and that, dishes that she hadn't tried before, Lara noticed that Mr. Offenhouse chose his meal so that it resembled more traditional European American cuisine.

"So, how are you adjusting to this new time period?" Captain Picard asked.

Both Lara and Mr. Offenhouse spoke at once.

"Well. It's n–"

"Not easily!"

Lara broke off and looked at Mr. Offenhouse whose answer was a lot more bluntly than hers was intended to be. She turned back to the captain.

"Well…it does take some time."

Captain Picard gave her a little smile before turning to Mr. Offenhouse.

"It might not have been exactly as you expected, Mr. Offenhouse, but that doesn't mean that you have to shut yourself away. Aside from your visit to Ten Forward four days ago you haven't really tried to embrace your new situation. Miss Dawson here, I believe, seemed to have come to terms with her situation better than you."

"Well, what do you expect me to be doing here, Captain?" he said coldly. "How am I supposed to live now that the focus of my entire life is gone? Do you expect me to be unemployed living on the street?"

"If you haven't already noticed, Mr. Offenhouse, you don't have to fear unemployment anymore," Picard answered. "You are free to pursue any activity you desire. And if your activity has been related to money, why don't you write about that work you had in your time? I'm sure many people would be interested to read about it, in fact, it would give as a fascinating insight about the importance of money in the old age."

Lara gazed at Mr. Offenhouse with an encouraging expression. He still looked grimly but seemed to consider that suggestion.

"Do you have any plans for your future, Miss Dawson?" Captain Picard asked, "Any career you wish to pursue?"

"Well, I – I…" Lara stammered thinking for a moment. "The thing is, Captain, I've only come close to finishing High School, so… I didn't really think about it. I guess I would have attended College. And I always enjoyed writing stories. I'm very interested in Asian culture being Asian American. My mother was Korean. I would like to travel through Asia one day."

"Well, it's quite simple these days, Miss Dawson."

She nodded and helped herself to more food.

* * *

When she awoke the next morning on Stardate 41998.5, Lara realized that these would be the last few hours she would spent on the _Enterprise_. It was December 31st 2364. New Year's Eve would be celebrated on Earth in a few hours. In fact, the most eastern part of the world was already celebrating it.

Getting ready, Lara packed only those items most interesting and valuable to her. The rest she recycled and saved it on her list she would take with her little PADD. For the last time she met with Alyssa Ogawa in Ten Forward. Looking around, Lara couldn't spot Mr. Offenhouse. She expected she would only see him again when they were supposed to rendezvous at the _USS Charleston_.

At 11:00 hours, she and Alyssa made their way to airlock 5 where Captain Picard and Commander Riker along with other personal were already waiting. Having observed their approach through her quarter's windows, Lara had been in awe at the sheer size of the Starbase: with a general shape like a mushroom, it could easily hold five metropolitan areas, five times the capacity of Tokyo!

Finally, the airlock opened and, with Picard and Riker in the lead, they went through a long docking corridor until they reached the other end emerging properly onto Starbase 81. Lara's jaw dropped…

* * *

 **This fanfiction was based on Episode 1x26 "The Neutral Zone" and two scenes loosely inspired by scenes from Episode 6x04 "Relics" from** _ **Star Trek: the Next Generation**_ **.**

 **In "The Neutral Zone", three people from the early 21** **st** **century are being discovered cryogenically frozen in an old satellite. They are revived and find themselves 300 years in the future. While this idea sounded really great to me, the actual execution of the episode's plot was rather dull. There three people weren't so much characters rather than archetypes: the greedy stock broker, the wailing house wife and the taking-drugs-musician.**

 **I tried to take this idea and tell the story from their perspective and to give the characters depth. I hope I succeeded. I erased the musician and the house wife and replaced them with an ordinary young woman who anyone could relate to. Lara Dawson is the only original character from the episode and of the entire TV series. I kept the stock broker, Ralph Offenhouse, and expanded his character as someone who has troubles adjusting to the new situation.**

 **Concerning the technology, I allowed myself to update it a bit so it would actually feel like future technology to 21** **st** **century readers. To any of my readers who is not familiar with Star Trek, it generally predicted technology that are quite common today or, in some cases, even outdated. The Original Series from the 60s had the cell phone in form of the communicator and video conferences or Skype-like technology. The next Generation from the 80s introduced the audience to the idea of flat screens and touch screens, PDAs and iPads although the so-called PADDs (Personal Access and Display Device) are more like an e-book where you can only download one book on. Certain things were not thought through or considered possible.**

 **Another thing is the way children and growing up is presented or, sometimes, society and getting along as a whole. Because this TV series was produced by people from the late 20** **th** **century (and conservative studio executives), certain things are being presented as familiar in order for the audience to identify themselves with the characters. Such things include daycares and schools and homework and being suspicious of new kinds of people such as androids (e.g. Episodes 4x26/5x01 "Redemption Part I/Redemption Part II"). But I believe that a society which doesn't know violence, theft or any other kinds of crimes, poverty, hunger and illness will also have a very different view of childhood. Even today there is a debate on the use of homework and whether it should be abolished. I think humanity would be much more matrist than patrist as it is now in most parts of the world (a term from the highly recommended book** _ **Saharasia: The 4000 BCE Origins of Child Abuse, Sex-Repression, Warfare and Social Violence, In the Deserts of the Old World**_ **by James DeMeo. Another book that inspried me was _The Continuum Concept_ by Jean Liedloff). And because of the way children are brought up they would not have any reason to be violent, oppressive or suspicious of outsiders. **


	2. One Small Step…

**The New World**

I do not own Star Trek.

 **Chapter 2:** **One Small Step…**

Lara could only stare at the huge place. Emerging out of the Terminal corridor, they entered a gigantic lobby. There were various restaurants from all four corners of the Federation. Approaching a schematic of the Starbase, Lara saw that there was also a section were non-Federation embassies and trading places were located. Looking around, Lara could see all sorts of alien species in the buzzing crowd of the lobby.

She and Mr. Offenhouse followed Captain Picard through the lobby and Lara noticed quite a few heads turned as they past. Had news of their arrival spread so quickly?

They went to one of the restaurants where a man with dark blond hair sat along with a woman of an alien species. She had greenish skin, pointed ears and eyebrows and short hair. Her Starfleet uniform hugged her curvy body. Lara briefly wondered whether her size was considered normal to Vulcans.

"Jean-Luc! Good to see you again," the man said shaking Picard's hand.

"Laurence. Mr. Offenhouse, Miss Dawson, these are Captain Laurence Mansfield of the _USS Charleston_ and his First Officer T'Mal."

"Ah, the unfrozen guests from the 21st century! To have the chance to meet people who are part of history… Welcome to the 24th century," Captain Mansfield said shaking Lara's hand first and then Mr. Offenhouse's.

The Vulcan woman merely nodded. Lara had read quite a bit about this species, the first one that humanity made contact with in 2063 helping humanity out of their violent past and into an unimaginable bright future.

"Please, sit down." Mansfield said.

Lara, Mr. Offenhouse and Captain Picard sat down at the table. They each ordered food with Lara choosing Samgyeopsal with Gireumjang and side dishes consisting of Kimchi, garlic cloves, mushrooms, onions and vegetables.

"So," Captain Mansfield asked after a short conversation with Captain Picard, "how are you two adjusting to this new time?"

"Oh, quiet well actually," Lara said with a quick glance to Mr. Offenhouse. "There are so many new things to explore, this whole new way of life, all the different extraterrestrial cultures… But mostly, I'm looking forward to see Earth. I can't just yet imagine a life without news reports of some war somewhere or threats or attacks with a racist background and all that. It will be like stepping onto a different planet."

"The past is foreign country. They do things differently there," Mansfield said. "And so do people of the future. Starfleet has of course been notified by the discovery of the cryonics satellite. And rumors have slipped to Federation outposts and Earth as well but nothing specific it seems. So don't worry about being gawked at or something."

He looked at Lara and Mr. Offenhouse curiously.

"Do you plan to move where your family lived? It must be quite a different experience for you especially being the youngest of all the frozen passengers."

Lara's expression became stony, her lips trembled.

"Can we please not talk about the past? I'm in the future now, so let's talk about the future."

Captain Mansfield nodded silently.

"Yeah, I'm going to Portland, Oregon once I'm on Earth," Lara said in a more joyful mood which was perhaps a bit too sudden. She gulped.

The captain of the USS Charleston turned to the ex stock broker sitting next to her: "And what are your plans, Mr. Offenhouse?"

"Got no plans," Offenhouse grumbled. "Except to die maybe."

"You don't mean that!"

Captain Mansfield looked shocked.

"Captain, I've built my whole life on working at the stock exchange in New York. I've made myself a fortune, I've invested in technology that could save me when my health was getting worse, I cheated death! And look around now: half the people here don't even have a concept of money, there are no _real_ markets to speak of, not like they should be, and no wall street anymore, no America anymore. My life is gone. My world is gone, so I am gone! So if I won't die, I'll certainly won't live in this Federation of yours! There's got to be somewhere where the world is still in order."

He sat back and looked around.

"When are we leaving this station?"

"We'll be leaving in two hours," T'Mal stated.

Offenhouse suddenly got up.

"I'm gonna have a look around."

Captain Mansfield nodded: "Just be sure to be at the docking terminal when we depart."

Offenhouse turned away without and answer and went off. Lara looked after him, a hunch forming inside her. There was something fishy about this. Offenhouse hadn't been interested in exploring the _Enterprise_ or making some form of connections. Lara didn't like the man but she was worried that he might do something inappropriate.

Lara used the following two hours to explore the lobby sticking close to the docking terminals all the same. As they day continued she tried different cuisines from other Federation worlds: Vulcan, Andorian, Tellarite or Betazoid foods. They were certainly interesting although not everything was enjoyable and some were quite bizarre, even to someone as open as Lara. She was nonetheless looking forward to explore other cuisines. As there were non-Federation embassies on Earth, Lara also presumed that there were likely restaurants serving non-Federation food such as Klingon or Romulan.

One hour after they stepped onto the space station, the lights were dimmed for a moment indicating the celebration of New Year's Eve which had started now on Earth. There was even a small firework lit up in one of the halls especially made for celebrations like this. Lara enjoyed the unique experience quite a bit: celebrating on a Starbase was not something you did many times after all. As Lara glanced up at this illuminating joy she thought back to her last five days. Those five days on a luxurious space vessel of exploration, the _Endeavour_ of space travel. Stranded into a new age full of brightness, happy lives and sentiments the like of which could not have been found even with the richest of people of her time. And now she would be travelling to the very heart of it all, a paradise as some here on the outskirts of the Federation named it. Earth. Ten days she would be travelling. She wondered how the _Charleston_ would be like. It was a different class than the Enterprise, one that had been built a century before. Smaller than the _Enterprise's_ galaxy class.

As she slowly wandered about the lobby heading towards the docking terminal connected to the _USS Charleston_ , Lara heard someone calling out her name.

"Miss Dawson!"

She found Captain Mansfield approaching her with a worried look on his face.

"I'm glad you're back, we're about to head off. Have you by any chance seen Mr. Offenhouse lately?"

Lara shook her head and quickly looked around the lobby. As T'Mal joined her captain, Mansfield spoke to one of the walls.

"Computer, locate Ralph Offenhouse!"

" _Ralph Offenhouse is on level 205._ "

Mansfield frowned.

"But that's the industrial section."

"What's loaded there, where is it carried?" Lara asked.

Mansfield looked at him.

"It's primarily cargo such as ores, minerals and such. It's where freighters arrive or take off. The material is either going to central Federation sites such as the Utopia Planitia shipyards on Mars or…to the edge of Federation space, the outmost colonies!"

Lara's eyes widened.

"That's where he's heading to. He wants to go somewhere where there are still valuable things to get and sell."

Captain Mansfield raced to one of the elevators. T'Mal and Lara followed him. They quickly told the elevators their destination and it rushed downwards.

They came out deep into the stations heart. It was poorly lid with light only illuminating when people passed through the section. Far into the distance they could see the light apparently moving to and fro as people walked about the place. Using a tricorder, a highly sophisticated scanner, T'Mal quickly located the spot where Offenhouse was. Only he wasn't there. Suddenly T'Mal bent down and picked something from the floor.

"It's his combadge," she said. "Computer, when is the next freighter taking off and what is its destination?"

" _The_ SS Joseon _, on rout to Omicron IV._ "

"It's a mining colony duridium, an ore," Mansfield explained. "But it's very close to the Ferengi border."

"I think I've read about them," Lara said. "Didn't you just establish contact with them?"

"Yes, and they're vile. A greedy people at the height of a capitalist culture like Earth has never seen from what we've been able to find out. That's gotta be heaven for Offenhouse."

They ran through corridors as fast as they could. Finally heading around a corner, they saw the familiar shape of Offenhouse slowly approaching a hangar where a small, rusty freighter could be seen. People were busy unloading cargo.

"Mr. Offenhouse, wait!"

He turned around.

The way he stared at them made Lara gulp: his face was lined with anger and stubbornness. The face of a man who had made a decision – a difficult one no doubt. For no matter on how much you resented the idea of going to a peaceful, moneyless Earth, the idea of venturing to a fully unknown world not knowing what you would find there was unnerving. At least, it would be to her.

"I'm not going to this Earth!"

Captain Mansfield started to approach him slowly.

"You should have at least informed us about your decision, Mr. Offenhouse."

"Why should I have? You would've only dragged me to your ship anyway."

Lara ran up to him.

"No one is forcing you to do anything! Why don't you try out life on Earth first?"

"Don't be naïve! D'you think that is life? What are you going to do all day, sit around, enjoying your workless day? I've done something for my life. I've invested in my future! I won't let others dictate on how to live."

"We're not forcing you to do anything," Mansfield insisted. "But Miss Dawson is right. Perhaps you find that you can get used to the current situation on Earth. It is the heart of the Federation, after all. The center of our government. Other embassies will be there. Perhaps you can even help us to deal with some of them, those who still use money, for instance."

Offenhouse moved his piercing eyes from Lara to Mansfield.

"Fine! But I can assure you, I won't be easily impressed."

Grumpily, he went along.

The _USS Charleston_ was smaller than the _Enterprise_. And unlike the flagship of the Federation, there were no family members on board. As Lara looked out from the windows of her new quarters, she took one last look at the _Enterprise_ stationed in the docking area and then at the starbase itself. Another ten days she'd have to wait. Then, finally, she could set her feet on actual, real ground…

 **In the episode, the characters from the past were mere archetypes. I would like to give them real character. If you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know in your reviews. :)**


	3. New Earth

**The New World**

I do not own Star Trek.

 **Chapter 3:** **New Earth**

Stardate 42026.1; On Earth it was January 10th 2365, a Sunday.

Lara stood on the bridge in front of the gigantic viewscreen along with Captain Mansfield and First Officer T'Mal.

"Approaching Sector 001, Captain," helmsman Yaḥyā ibn Sālim ibn Māhir al-ʿAwādiyy informed them.

"Put us out of warp, Lieutenant al-ʿAwādiyy," Mansfield instructed.

"Ay, sir!"

"This never gets old," Science officer Lieutenant Kāng Zhǐruò observed smiling. She was about 30 years old, the youngest of the senior staff, and expecting. Her belly already showed and her breasts were getting bigger. She would leave the _Charleston_ along with Lara and live on Earth for a while with her partner. Unlike the _Enterprise_ , Excelsior-class ships weren't designed to have children on board.

"Half of your puny planet is too damn cold to enjoy," Chief engineer Lieutenant Khaxil Narv sneered. He was a Tellarite, a short humanoid species with wrinkly skin, full curly beards and a snout-like nose. Politeness was foreign, downright rude to them. They preferred to speak their minds and expected their opposite to return their insults with a good stand of their own. If you managed to hold your ground and make an even stronger argument, only then you would have their respect.

"Funny, I just thought the same about you, Khaxil," Lieutenant Kāng retorted. Narv chuckled with his hoarse sounding voice.

"If you aren't particularly interested in seeing Earth, then why don't you crawl back to engineering where you belong?" Security chief and Tactical officer Lieutenant Commander Telev Kraif, an Andorian, suggested though with a light smile on his face. He had blue skin and two antennae that came out of his head.

* * *

For ten days, Lara had been on the _USS Charleston_ now. She was not as big as the _Enterprise_ but certainly impressive. Not to mention the crew who were very nice, even Narv in his own way. First, she and Mr. Offenhouse had reported to Sickbay. The Chief medical officer, Doctor Mbali Dhlomo, a human from South Africa, had checked them up to see whether they were healthy. Lara had liked her immediately. Doctor Dhlomo and Lieutenant Kāng were friends since their days at Starfleet Academy and had spent much time with Lara during those ten days. They had played Mahjong, had dinner together where Lara had not only been introduced to the famously spicy Sichuan cuisine but also to the cuisine of South Africa. Lara and Lieutenant Kāng had also spent time on the Holodeck where Lara had found her favorite program, the adaptation of a Korean drama series she had found on Netflix in her old century: Mr. Sunshine. Taking place during the early 1900s, it told of the growing influences of foreign nations on Korea, especially the emerging Japanese control of the country. The protagonists were Lady Go Ae-sin who grew up in a noble aristocrat family but had chosen to abandon the dull life of women in that class and instead joined the Righteous army. The male protagonist was Choi Yu-jin, or Eugene Choi as he was called in America, a man born as a slave who had escaped to the US as a child and returned to Korea as a Captain of the U.S Marine Corps and the Acting Consul for the United States.

Lara played Go Ae-sin while Kāng Zhǐruò often played the role of Kudo Hina, the mysterious owner of the Glory hotel in Hanseong (now known as Seoul). The program was designed so that universal translators wouldn't work as communication barriers were also a part of the story. Characters would speak Korean, Japanese or English; some could speak two of the languages or even all three such as Eugene Choi. Zhǐruò whose husband was Japanese, spoke Japanese as well as English while Lara, like her character, could speak Korean but not Japanese. The difference between her and the character she played was that Lara could speak English. They had a lot of fun.

Lara also befriended Operations officer Ensign Klaban Zereft, a Denobulan woman. They were quite a cheerful species which was especially obvious with their unusual wide smile. Each Denobulan man would marry three wives who each had three husbands. The females were generally more comfortable in their sexuality and weren't afraid of showing it, in fact, they were as open as you could get. While this was nothing new or even uncommon for a 24th century human, it was certainly a new experience to Lara although she didn't find it uncomfortable in the slightest. On more than one occasion Klaban had flirted with her verbally as well as physically.

* * *

As the ship dropped to impulse, Lara's eyes widened in amazement as the blue and green planet came into view. There it was: Earth. She had seen many photos of it but to see it there was just…

Then she noticed something odd.

"No deserts?"

Captain Mansfield chuckled.

"Almost no deserts. Those deserts formed naturally around 4000 BC. Out of their wasteland, we've managed to grow healthy forests again. It was in the desert where patriarchy, violence and abuse were formed so it's only fitting to get rid of them. Only several spots were kept where ancient sites such as Giza are located and where local wildlife would survive. To keep a bit of familiarity. And the Weather Modification Net always provides a good weather without storms but with the occasional necessary rain."

They watched as the Charleston slowly made its way into spacedock.

"All right," Captain Mansfield then said. "Let's go."

As they were heading to the turbolift, the captain hit his combadge:

"Mansfield to Offenhouse: please meet us in Transporter room 3."

* * *

"Any recommendations for tourists, Captain?" Lara asked as they entered the transporter room where Offenhouse was waiting for them. She had done quite a bit of research for herself during the last ten days but nevertheless a real person with experience could always be helpful.

"Well, concerning new points of interest new to you two, I would recommend the Smithsonian, a few new objects have been included since your time: the _Phoenix_ , the first human ship capable of warp speed, the first human starship for deep space exploration, the _Enterprise NX-01_ under command of captain Jonathan Archer, a recreation of the original Federation _USS Enterprise_ under command of first Captain Christopher Pike and then Captain James T. Kirk. Oh, and they recently have made a new addition, an old ship they found on a now uninhabited planet: the _USS Franklin_ which mysteriously vanished over 200 years ago. And a recreation of the _USS Shenzhou_ has also been made for the Smithsonian. Its captain, Philippa Georgiou, was a highly decorated captain. Then there's of course Bozeman, Montana, where humanity made first contact with an alien species."

Mansfield nodded to the transporter chief who was typing something on his console.

"How are you today?" Lara asked Mr. Offenhouse as they stepped onto the platform of this transporter device.

"I'm fine, I think. Had an inspiration last night."

"An inspiration?" Lara asked with her brows raised and a smile on her face.

"What was it?"

He lowered his head for a second and bit his lip.

"Give me a few days. I'll get back to you. I'm not sure whether it will work out."

Lara observed him for a short while as the rest of the senior staff positioned themselves.

"I can't wait to see Yešaʿyahu," Lieutenant al-ʿAwādiyy mused as he stepped onto the pad.

"What does your husband do?" Lara asked.

"He's a botanist," Lieutenant al-ʿAwādiyy replied. "But he's not in Starfleet. He stayed in Riyadh."

The platform was now full. Lara braced herself for a feeling that she did not know yet, a sensation so knew that it was impossible to prepare for it.

"Energize!"

Lara gasped as along with a high-pitched sound, like some kind of whistling noise, the most unlike sensation overwhelmed her. The closest was a faint, far away tickle but it was so soft as if she would merge with the water of a very light shower. It was cozily warm like sunrays tickling her nose. She felt light as if her mind and soul were suddenly freed from their atomic prison. And then –

She felt wind. An ever so slight brushing wind, warm, hugging. She breathed quickly as if she had just finished a marathon. It had been gone as fast as it had started. Lara let out a laugh of joy, of excitement as she realized that she had been beamed for the very first time! She looked around.

"We're on Earth!" she let out half whispering, half screeching. Next to her, Mr. Offenhouse was still dazed by what he had just experienced. Their 24th century fellow transporter travelers had just walked away from the arrival zone and were now turning around to marvel at Lara's and Mr. Offenhouse's reactions.

"Quite something, isn't it?" Captain Mansfield commented warmly.

Lara gulped and stepped of the pad. Looking around once more, she was now actually observing her surroundings: they stood on what appeared to be part of this Starfleet Academy she had read about. One of the few faculties still in operation. Normal schools didn't existed as humans at least believed in the philosophy of unschooling where learner-chosen activities were advocated as a primary means for learning, learning through once natural life experiences including play, household responsibilities, personal interests and curiosity, internships and work experience, travel, books, elective classes, family, mentors, and social interaction. The exploration of activities initiated by the children themselves. Lara frowned as she looked at the buildings that made out Starfleet Academy. This architecture was foreign to her. She knew that the campus was actually settled over several areas of San Francisco. She and the others were standing somewhere on the shore of the Presidio, not far away from the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Beyond, Lara could see the city of San Francisco. But the skyline had become unrecognizable, evidently, after 300 years. Towering buildings could be seen, edifices easily two kilometers high, or more. It was an alien, yet strangely refined human architecture along with actual extraterrestrial buildings among the skyline. Were those consulates or embassies?

"How can those buildings be so high?" Lara asked Mansfield as she caught up to him while the group made its way through the park of the campus. The air felt fresh, fresher perhaps than anything during her time.

"Carbon nanotubes," the captain answered. "A material 16 times stronger than concrete."

Lara chuckled with excitement. Those 20th or 21st century skyscrapers looked like dwarfs next to those new buildings. There weren't any streets near the campus so she couldn't see how cars or busses looked now. The group reached a small square where several paths led to different directions.

"Train station's that way," Mansfield said pointing to one of the pathways. "Just go straight ahead."

He turned to Lara and Mr. Offenhouse with a sad look on his face.

"I guess this is it. Me and my crew will have to report on our journey. We've had quite the adventures before you came on board. Although it is safe to say that you two have been the greatest adventure we've had. You can explore a dozen worlds and cultures but meeting someone from another time… that is something very rare."

He held out his hand. Lara took it, Mr. Offenhouse followed.

"Thank you for letting us on board, Captain," he said.

"Good journey, both of you," Mansfield said. Lara had actual tears in her eyes as she said goodbye to the rest of the senior staff: T'Mal, Telev, Zhǐruò, Yaḥyā, Khaxil, Klaban and Mbali. One last time, she turned around as she and Mr. Offenhouse were working towards the train station and waved at the crew.

* * *

The train station was as weird as the rest of the modern architecture. Although the two of them had already realized that money was a thing of the past, nowhere else did it become more evident than here: no tickets, no money for food at the local restaurants. They could just replicate food and drink. As Lara could see from the tour guide on one of the screens, actual restaurants with real meals still existed but they didn't make money either and the mindset of people on what you should consume was also totally different. No more animals that were brutally slaughtered; Meat was replicated, at least the big game that required much space and created much methane.

There were also no train tracks. Instead, a hover train was gliding towards them. Floating on a cushion of magnetism created by a superconducting pavement, it came to a halt. The front of the train was heading to Portland, Oregon. The latter section would separate itself to head east.

"See ya," Lara said to Mr. Offenhouse before boarding the train. She moved through the car and sat down in an empty row. The train took off again. At first it was slow and Lara could see the campus of Starfleet Academy vanishing behind them. Leaving the suburbs, the train increased speed and the view outside became blurry. Since it was a train crossing several US States, it wouldn't stop for some time unlike the trains riding within California. The speed was truly incredible, in 5 hours she would be there. A hologram on the window showed their current location and recommended places to visit in that area. Aside from that, one could research the weather announcements by the Weather Modification Net for the next three months!

Totally distracted by the amazing features on the window, Lara at first had failed to notice that a passenger had taken the seat opposite of her. It was a boy who could be no more than nine or ten years old. He read on a small device that was utterly thin like the personal PADD that Lara had received when she was on the _Enterprise_. Lara wondered if he was alone on this train. From what she had found out aboard the Enterprise, children, at least human once, had a totally different way of growing up than children in her century. In a world with no crimes and no fears, would it even be considered a risk in letting your children explore at their leisure? Parents made no attempt in stopping their children from forming their own unique personalities by trying to shape them to fit some kind of "norms". It was a really alien kind of upbringing to a human from Lara's time like so many other things. To her and Mr. Offenhouse, humans too were the aliens. Lara closed her eyes and focused on the unique feeling of being in a hover train, the silence except from what she thought was the faintest of hum she had ever heard. Or was it a feeling rather than a hearing? Like being on a plane that took off only so much lighter? Lara couldn't quite describe it but it felt wonderful. She could hear blurred conversations mixed together by various passengers in many languages. So much had happened since she had awoken. And although the initial stress had subsided, she still felt as if she had just managed to get through her final exams or something. She needed a break. Settle in… truly.

* * *

She woke up again just in time to see the train move into Union Station, the central station of Portland. As the commuters got off the train, Lara walked amongst them curiously and excitingly taking in every detail. The architecture of the station had remained although it had been adapted to 24th century conditions. There was nobody to ask for information anymore and no driver or conductor could be seen. Instead, there were a bunch of screens and panels where one could inform oneself about the city. Most people however seemed to have no need for it. Perhaps they had already read about Portland at home or on the train. Lara scrolled over the screen to see if she could buy a house. She would love to live at least near her old neighborhood. That would give her something familiar. But there was nothing. Sighing, Lara sat down on a bench frustrated. Of course, it had never come to mind that there was no such thing as buying a house in the future. Rather than that, she would have expected having difficulties in the act of buying itself, not that that concept had been eradicated entirely. Even though she had discovered back on the Enterprise that there wasn't any currency around anymore, her mind was still too wired to 21st century thinking that it had simply not crossed her mind.

Finally she jumped back on her feet and went to the screen once more. Outside, where in her time a parking lot had been, a large collection of hover cars could be found. Slowly nodding to herself, Lara straightened herself determinately and headed off. The sleekly looking cars didn't look like anything she had imagined. As she approached a chosen hovercar, the doors opened automatically. Four comfortable chairs turned to face her inviting her to sit in one of them. Hesitating for a second, Lara then took the front chair on the left. The doors closed and an automated friendly sounding voice spoke to her:

" _Welcome! Please select a destination._ "

Lara closed her eyes for a moment then stared at the screen replacing the dashboard in front of her.

"9147 Gefferson Street," Lara said.

" _Thank you_ ," the computer said. " _Please relax and enjoy the ride_."

The car began to move. Slowly gliding out of the parking lot, Lara as yet again taken aback by the sheer sound of… nothing. Not motor, no noise of tires moving on the asphalt. Then she remembered that there were no tires to begin with. No friction, no fuel. And, as Lara also soon found out, no traffic lights or signs or jams. Whenever a person or an animal was in the way, the hover car would just slow down. Granted, that happened very rarely, at least on her route. No one seemed to even think of crossing the street unless there were designations for doing so. Meanwhile, Lara could enjoy meals and items from the car's replicator and watch the latest news from FNN – the Federation News Network. That was another whole new thing for her: news that actually consisted of only good stuff. No attacks, accidents, storms or fires. What was being broadcast were news of the arts and sciences, high entertainment and sports. Festivals and concerts. News from events on Earth but also Vulcan, Andoria or other Federation worlds. The only grave news came in context of non-Federation species or planets. The conflict with the Cardassian Union and rumors of the occupation of the planet Bajor and its inhabitants. Rare footage of Bajor by Federation reporters on a tour regulated by the Cardassian government showing only that which they were meant to see. The Romulans emerging again in interstellar politics after 53 years of isolation and the reopening of the Romulan embassy on Earth. It would remain to be seen whether these were good or bad news as the news anchor said. On the bright side, a new Officer Exchange Program had been initiated between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. In an interview, the Klingon ambassador, _Qore_ _qx̣ Tla'a puqloḑ Mo'qay tuqniġ_ , stated that he was honored to announce the success of this new program. Gazing out of the window, Lara thought about what she had seen on the news. She wondered how people living in this time would take it. On this wonderful Earth where there was no crime or violence, no need. It was Paradise, even to Lara who had grown up in a rather wealthy country in good conditions. Her family wasn't poor. But still, Lara had always been aware that, while she didn't see much of it, there had still been an immense poverty in the US. Now, in this century, wealth was of no concern because society had risen above such things. And this was more or less the case on all Federation worlds. From what she had read. But outside those borders were still political entities where life was cruel and unjust. How much did the average Federation citizen care for that what was so far away?

A look of familiarity shook Lara out of her thoughts. She had arrived in the neighborhood where she had lived. The houses, the gardens, it still looked the same! Apart from the cars. And the fact that there was no garbage cans. The hover car parked and Lara got out excitingly. Her old home! It really was her old home, still there, as if nothing had changed. She stood there, unable to move. What if it was inhabited? Lara ran towards the windows next to the door and looked inside. The interior walls were plain white, there were sofas, chairs and tables but it all looked so… impersonal.

"Thinking about moving in?"

Lara looked to her left and spotted a young African American man standing at the far end of the porch watching her. He must be a neighbor.

"Yeah, uh…" Lara took a deep breath and looked between the neighbor and her old house.

"I wasn't sure whether you could just… you know, claim it for yourself."

"It's free, isn't it?" the man replied smiling as though it was obvious.

"No one has lived in there for centuries."

Lara slowly nodded.

"So… it doesn't belong to anybody?"

The man actually laughed.

"Why should an empty house belong to anybody?"

"…Right," Lara said slowly with a bit of sarcasm swinging in her voice.

"I'm James, by the way. James Noah."

"Lara Dawson," she said.

He nodded and smiled.

"Did you take anything with you, shall I help you unpack?"

"Thanks, but I don't really have anything except my backpack. Well, yet, anyway."

He nodded again, waved goodbye and went back to his house. Lara stepped towards the door and, after a minute of hesitation, pushed it. It opened instantly. Lara still had to wrap her head around the completely foreign attitude towards possession and safety that everyone seemed to have here and the trust in each other.

Setting her backpack down, Lara glanced around. Touching the nearest wall, she gasped as a screen appeared right away.

" _Good afternoon! Welcome to 9147 Gefferson Street! How may I help you?_ "

The female voice sounded young and cheerful. Lara cleared her throat.

"Um… I'd like to decorate this house. How can I… proceed?"

" _Each item in this house can be personalized according to your liking. This includes walls, the floors and ceilings as well as the furniture._ "

"Wow!" Lara exclaimed.

She turned off the screen and moved into the living room. A replicator was installed here and another one could be found in the kitchen. Lara smiled to herself. She knew exactly how she would decorate the place.

Two hours later, she enjoyed a lovely meal and looked around her new living room. She had inspected every room. One of the rooms on the second floor held a holosuite. As she was now living alone in this house, there were a couple of rooms that had no function as her parents weren't here anymore so the bedroom and their studies would remain unused for now. That gave rise to some interesting new thoughts: should she settle down here? Start a real life? Have a family? Well, Lara didn't really have any sort of relationships at this point. She didn't even know anyone on Earth in this century! Well, she could definitely change that. She didn't have any duty or commitment, she didn't go to school anymore, she didn't have to apply to college or for a job, she wasn't bound to anything, not even the need of earning money anymore!

How was Mr. Offenhouse coping with that, she wondered. Putting her empty bowls and chopsticks back into the replicator to recycle them, Lara made her way upstairs into her old room which she had decorated to meet the look it had before. Throwing herself onto the bed, she went to sleep instantly…

* * *

Lara was awakened by sunrays tickling her nose. Stretching herself and yawning widely, she remained on her bed for a couple of minutes before getting up to take a bath the water of which was provided by a replicator system in the tub. After that she got dressed and went down to the kitchen to eat breakfast. She then let herself fall into the sofa turning on the screen on the next wall. Gazing at it, she suddenly realized that she didn't have a clue on what to do now. With so many possibilities and no real goal (except finding her home which she had now achieved), what was there to be done?

Closing her eyes, she searched. Back in the 21st century, she didn't really have any sort of goal. She remembered her conversation with Captain Picard. Yes, she still wanted to visit Asia, especially Korea, but she also didn't want to stress herself. After all, planning a voyage and booking tickets and hotel rooms wasn't really required anymore. Or at least, extensive planning long before undertaking the journey wasn't necessary any longer. Travelling around the world was easy! So many ways to do it. And she felt kinda lonely. Lara opened her eyes. All her friends and family were long dead. She could always step out and make new friends… and possibly a new family. She got on her feet and went towards the door. She would first explore her hometown. Then she would find someone, a guy or a girl her age who liked to travel. She grinned. It was exciting already!

* * *

First though, she took her hovercar to explore the city of Portland. What she noticed right away was that there were no more giant malls. In fact, there were no shops for any good that you could now easily replicate. Clothing, cutlery, furniture. There were however still many restaurants run by individual people who each had specialized in their own unique dishes influenced by a specific type of cuisine. No more fast-food restaurant chains. And everywhere you went, you got healthy food that did not resulted in the destruction of the environment.

However, Lara soon found somewhat strange here in her old home. Normally, in her century, she would be forced to find work in order to gain money so that she could survive or have a decent life. But here, in this century… you automatically _had_ a life, any life you chose! Money was no longer a concern. The least you could gain or lose was reputation. But even that would not rob you of a home, of food.

Lara realized that she wanted to see more. So she used one of those transporter stations that were positioned throughout the city, indeed, throughout the world forming a vast network for fast travel. Lara chose New Orleans as her destination as she had never been there before. Walking through the French Quarter, she spotted an interesting restaurant: _Sisko's_ , offering both Creole and Cajun cuisine.

The founder of the restaurant was an African American of 55 years of age, Joseph Sisko. He was friendly, cheerful and enjoyed conversation with his costumers. He listened to Lara's story while he prepared Gumbo for her.

"I'm sure you'll find your way, my dear," he said to Lara smiling.

"There is a young gentleman who also needs to find his way still," he mentioned pointing to a teenager with East Asian features sitting at a table staring ahead.

"Perhaps you two can find that way together."

Lara smiled at the elderly gentleman and took her Gumbo. The teenager looked up as Lara approached his table.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked brightly.

"Uh…no. Not at all," he said somewhat shyly.

Lara smiled at sat down. The boy stared at her for a moment.

"What's your name?" Lara asked.

"Harry Kim," he replied.

"I'm Lara. Lara Dawson."

They shook hands.

"So, Harry, what brings you here?"

"Thinking about where I want to go, what I want to do… I'm not really sure."

Lara nodded.

"I know how you feel. I'm in a similar situation."

"How are you dealing with that?" Harry asked.

Lara tiled her head thinking.

"By travelling," she said. "I went back to Portland to where I was born and… I knew that I wanted to be elsewhere. I wanted to move around, see the world and looking for something that's right for me."

Harry thought about that.

"I've lived in Monterey all my life," he mumbled.

Lara looked at him. Would he be the right person? Well, there was one way to find out…

"Maybe…" she began stretching the word in a playful tone, "… we could travel together. See all those great places on Earth, maybe other Federation worlds. We can find out what we truly want to do in our lives."

Harry's mouth opened and, after several ums and uhs, he finally managed to say:

"Do you think so?"

Lara nodded smiling. Now Harry was tilting his head.

"Okay… ok, we can try."

Lara smiled brightly. Holding up her glass, she toasted Harry.

"Then to our trying!"

* * *

 **When reading/hearing/listening to Captain Jean-Luc Picard telling 21** **st** **century human Lily Sloane in "Star Trek: first Contact" that "we work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity", people always ask: "Well, how does this work if not by Communist dictatorship?" Well, they then forget that there is another movement that has the exact same goal as the one Picard describes: anarchism. Which is not – as people like to believe (and nourished though the media among other things) – violent people seeking chaos! That phenomenon did exist among anarchists but it has died out two centuries ago! Still, there is a state that is shown in the Star Trek franchise, with an elected President.**

 **I believe that this statehood mainly has the purpose to be represented outwardly – it exists to represent itself to foreign systems like the Klingon Empire or the Ferengi Alliance – the president undertakes** **various official, ceremonial, diplomatic and representational duties** **, a bit like the German Federal President, the British Monarch or better, the Tennō, the Emperor of Japan.**

 **But inwardly, there isn't much of a state, or rather, an interfering state, it is just there – but still, people live in their communities and can live and do as they please. Only when a direct threat to Earth is present, the state will declare an emergency and make itself visible so to say. And it is because of that, because everyone creates their own life without being guided or controlled by a higher institution, that there is no violence. Why be violent when there is nothing to be violent against? No violence is needed! The state doesn't interfere similarly as it does not with pre-warp civilizations. Don't hinder people in their natural development!**

 **Also, people seem to confuse property with possession. Like in the described situation, when someone doesn't use the house anymore, it is not in their possession anymore – and therefore free for others to use. Property has to follow the laws of the capitalist market, it is an abstract right, to be dealt with things at discretion and it manifests itself mostly as profit coming from exploitation. Possession has to be dealt with according to social demand of society. Of course, there still is private possession and the right to that in Federation society.**

 **I recommend the book "Anarchie!: Idee - Geschichte - Perspektiven" by Horst Stowasser. Unfortunately, I haven't as of yet found a book written in English that meets the quality of this recommended work. I'll update this note once I have done so. If someone wishes more details on this topic e.g. the question of democracy, education, free love or the equality of all people, please write me and I'll discuss them with you. :)**

 **The name of the ambassador given in the story is _Qore_ _qx̣ Tla'a puqloḑ Mo'qay tuqniġ_ [** **qʰorɛq͡χ t͡ɬɑʔɑ pluqʰoɖ moʔqʰɑj tʰuqʰnɪɣ** **]. In the traditional orthography, it would be _qoreQ tlha'a puqloD Mo'qay tuqnIgh_ which translates to "Korax, son of Klaa, house of Mo'Kai". It isn't stated how you define a full name of a Klingon or the order in which it is given. Like so many other species in Star Trek, a last name isn't given or deemed "unpronounceable". How convenient! **


End file.
